Rotary cutter-shaft for pile-cutting machines.



'No. 857,356. PATENTED JUNB18, 1907. T

T. MORTON.

ROTARY CUTTER SHAFT FOR FILE CUTTING MACHINES.

- APPLICATION FILED-MAR. 20. 1907.

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THOMAS MORTON, OF CROMPTON, RHODE ISLAND.

ROTAFlY CUTTER-SHAFT FOR FILE-CUTTING MACHINES- Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented June 18, 1907.

Application filed March 20, 1907. $erial No. 363,488.

To (zZZ whom it may, concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS MORTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Crompton, in the county of Kent and State of Rhode Island,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RotaryCutter-Shafts for Pile-Cutting Machines, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein'to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to improvements in the construction of rotarycutter shafts for pile cutting machines, and has for its object toprovide an abutment in the cutter shaft formed of a hardened steel plateto receive the thrust and strain of the cutter blades, and

a further object of the invention is to set these abutment plates into arecess formed in the shaft to receive them and secure the same by meansof keys or wedging strips.

In the construction of the ordinary pile cutting machine a large numberof cutters are strung or loosely mounted on the cutter shaft, beingseparated the width of the races in the cloth by collars or spacers.These cutters are commonly made of comparatively thin hardened steel andin a circular form, the periphery being beveled to an edge and sharpenedfor the purpose of cutting the races in the cloth. A tooth or projectingportion is preferably formed to extend inward from the edge of thecentral bore of the cutter, and in ordinary practice enters acorresponding groove or spline in the cutter shaft thereby forming'a keyto prevent the cutters from turning on the shaft. 7

The central bore of these cutters is made a little larger than thediameter of the shaft and they are held loosely between the spacers sothat the plates may be free to work slightly sidewise on the shaft toreadily follow the races and accommodate themselves to anyirregularities in the cloth.

It is found in practice very desirable to use a cutter of comparativelylarge diameter in order to obtain a high peripheral cutting speed, andit is also found advantageous to employ cutters constructed of extremelythin material. WVhen such cutters are used 'on the ordinary shaft it isfound that the tooth in moving about soon wears into the spline in theshaft, thereby holding the cutters against their necessary lateraladjustment, and causing them to run out of line and spoil the work. Thisobjectionable effect is also found in the operation of the small=cutters, but to a less degree than with the thinner cutters of thelarger diameter.

My improved: manner of providing a hardened steel abutment plate andinserting the same into the shaft is a simple and effective method ofobviating all of the above difficulties, rendering it possible tosuccessfully operate cutters of any size and thickness.

With these objects in view, the invention consists of certain novelfeatures of construction, as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cuttermounted on a shaft and showing the inwardly extending tooth engaging thehardened steel abutment plate, which is secured in said shaft, the loweredge ofthe cutter being shown as entering the cutter guide and cuttingthe threads in the races in the formation of pile fabric. Fig.

2shows a gang of cutters mounted on a shaft, and spaced by the collarsbetween them. Fig. 3is a perspective view showing the hardened abutmentplate or blade to-' gether with awedging gib strip which serves to bindthe plate in the shaft. Fig. 4-is a sectional end view of the shaftshowing the groove therein, which is adapted to receive and retain theabutment plate and its Wedging strip. q j

Referring to the drawings, at 1 is the cutter, preferably blanked out ofsheet steel in a circular form, its periphery 2 being ground down to asharp edge. The center portion of this cutter is removedas at 8,leavingan inwardly projecting tooth 4 having its thrust edge 5 formed ona radial line, and the opposite edge 6 for'ming a straight line andrunning back to meet the circle of the center aperture whereby a strongand reinforced tooth is obtained.

The shaft 7 is made of the desired size and length to receive severalhundred of these cutters, which are placed thereon one after the other,with a spacing collar 8 between them. At 9 this shaft is cut awayleaving a flat space with a square shoulder 10 to receive the tooth 4 ofthe cutters. A slot or recess 11 is then preferably milled out, one sideof which is in line with the face 10, said slot being formed wide enoughto receive the abutment plate 13, together with its key or wed gingstrip 14. This abutment plate may be made of any desired material, butis preferably constructed from sheet steel in short length that can bereadily tempered and prepared, the same being hardened either all overon its working face or only its engaging portion if desired to such adegree that the thrust or wear of the tooth of the cutter acting on thishardened surface can have no effect upon it. The adjoining ends of theseplates are cut on an angle 1515 so as not to leave a crack or aperturebetween them through which the tooth of one of the cutters might work.These plates, after having been thus prepared, are placed in the recess11 in the shaft and a key or wedging strip 14 is also placed in theaperture side of the plate and the former forced tightly therein to holdthe plate firmly in position. After this key has been driven home theedge 16 of the slot is turned or riveted over the same securely holdingthe whole in position. Another practical feature of this construction isthat the key strip is made of soft material so that it can be milled outand removed to readily replace or repair any damaged or imperfectabutment plates found in the shaft. Ifthis key were hard like the plateit would be a very difficult matter to remove the plate or the key afterthe same had once been inserted into the shaft, in which case the wholeshaft would have to be thrown away, if for any cause one of the platesshould become damaged.

Many methods have been tried for obtain ing the desired result in apractical way, among others being hardening the shaft, and securing ahardened strip onto a fiattened portion of the shaft by screws orrivets, but nothing has proved so practical, satisfactory and effectiveas the construction above described. In this way a shaft of ordinarysteel may be used only requiring a short operation on a milling machineto place the same in condition to receive the hardened plates, which arereadily attached thereto and made as secure and solid as the shaftitself, and at a minimum expense, and it is found in practice thatcutters of any size and as thin as may be desired may be operated onthis shaft'without fear of in any way injuring the hardened surface ofthis abutment plate.

My improved method renders the cutter shaft, working under theconditions above explained, as practically indestructible, whileprevious to my invention the shafts were continually cut, the edge ofthe keyway being quickly destroyed and new shafts had to be fitted totake the place of the injured ones.

My invention is very practical, simple in its construction and effectivein its operation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of a circularcutter blade, a shaft on which said blade is mounted, said shaft beingprovided with a slot, a hardened abutment plate adapted to fit edgewiseinto said slot to receive the thrust and wear of the cutter on its face,and a key strip forced into said slot to bind said plate in positiontherein.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a cutterblade, a shaft on which said blade is mounted, said shaft being providedwith a slot, a hardened abutment plate adapted to fit into said slot toreceive the thrust and wear of the cutter, a key strip forced into saidslot to bind said plate in position therein the edge of said slot beingturned over the edge of said key to rivet the same therein.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of a circularcutter blade, a shaft on which said blade is mounted, a flattenedportion on said shaft leaving an abutment or wall, said shaft beingprovided with a slot, a hardened plate adapted to fit edgewise in saidslot and be backed up by said wall, said plate being adapted to receivethe thrust and wear of the cutter on its face, and a key strip forcedinto said slot to bind said plate in position thereon.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination of a circularcutter blade, an internally projecting tooth on said blade, a shaft onwhich said blade is mounted, a flattened portion on said shaft toreceive said tooth and form an abutment or wall, said shaft being alsoprovided with a slot, a hardened plate adapted to fit edgewise in saidslot and be backed up by said wall, said plate being adapted to engagesaid tooth and receive the thrust and wear of the cutter, a key stripforced into said slot to bind said plate in position thereon, the edgeof said slot being turned over the edge of said key to rivet the sametherein.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of a circularcutter blade, a shaft on which said blade is mounted, said shaft beingprovided with a slot, a plurality of thin hardened abutment plates setend to end, the same being adapted to fit into said slot to receive thethrust and wear of the cutter, the adjacent ends of said plates beingcut on an angle to fit together, and one or more key strips forced intosaid slot to bind said plate in position therein.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination of a circularcutter blade, a shaft on which said blade is mounted, said shaft beingprovided with a slot, a thin hardened abutment plate adapted to fit Intestimony whereof I affiX my signature ed%ewise int ro slaid slot toreceivef the thllllst in presence of two witnesses an Wear 0 t e cutteron its ace, a ey' formed of a thin strip of softer material THOMASMORTON 5 forced into said slot to bind said plate in posi- Witnesses:

tion therein, and means for holding said key HOWARD E. BARLOW,

in said slot. E. I. OGDEN.

